Reuters, India :Indian police have arrested a 36-year-old woman suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister of Bangladesh and carry out a coup, police said on Saturday.The arrest comes days after Indian security officials said they had uncovered a plot by members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, accused of carrying out scores of attacks in Bangladesh, targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.The group also planned to assassinate the country’s main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, Indian officials said. Hasina and Zia have dominated Bangladeshi politics for more than a decade.Pallab Bhattacharjee, additional director general of police in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, said the woman had been also charged with collecting arms with an intention of waging war against India. “She has been arrested by the special operations unit of the Assam Police and will be produced in court today,” he said. The alleged assassination conspiracy was discovered after two members of the outlawed group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in West Bengal in eastern India last month. Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks.Mainly-Muslim Bangladesh has suffered three major army coups and two dozen smaller rebellions since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Assam Tribune, adds: In a crucial breakthrough, a joint operation by National Investigation Agency (NIA), City Police and the CRPF managed to arrest Sujina Begum alias Sirjia Banu, wife of Shahnur Alom, who is wanted in connection with the Burdwan blast. Investigators were on the lookout for Sujina ever since she had gone underground along with Shahnur immediately after the Burdwan blast. She was arrested from the Inter-State Bus Terminus in Boragaon area this morning, NIA sources said. Sujina, during preliminary investigation, had confessed to have undergone training in a madrassa in West Bengal on several occasions.Immediately after her arrest, teams of NIA had rushed to a number of probable hideouts of Shahnur, including some areas on the Indo-Bangla border, sources said. Aged about 30, Sujina was with her one-and-half-year child when she was cornered by police. “It appears that she was on her way to meet Shahnur, but nothing can be said for certain. We are still questioning her and trying to track him down,” sources said. It has been learnt that the arrest has been made under SOU Police Station case 1/14 under Sec 120 (b), 121 (a), 122, 142, 23 of the IPC read with 10/13/16/18(B)/20 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Assam Police) on the strength of which six other arrests of suspected jehadi operatives were made in Barpeta district on October 9. It needs mention that the NIA had already announced cash reward for anyone who would provide information on the whereabouts of Shahnur, a key operative of Jaamat-ul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB). Investigators have already conducted a series of searches in the house of Shahnur and his relatives.Our Barpeta Correspondent adds: Meanwhile, Chiraj Ali Khan, the arrested Arabic teacher of Debara High School in Barpeta district has been suspended from service. Khan was arrested in connection with Burdwan blast. He was teaching in the school since 1996.
